September 05, 2013

Freda Kelly Recalls Her Days of Working With the Beatles - "Good Ol' Freda"


                                                                       

                                                                             



Good Ol' Freda - Official Trailer


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There are places Freda Kelly will remember all her life — sights she saw and experiences she gained as the secretary to the Beatles, their fan club and their manager, as well as a friend and trusted confidante of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr for nearly the entire duration of their history-shaping rock group. 


“We were all teenagers together,” said Ms. Kelly, a Liverpool native who saw the Beatles play many early gigs there at the Cavern Club before she was hired by the band’s manager, Brian Epstein. “A bit wild, but we eventually settled down.” 


Though sharing her firsthand observations about the Beatles and their astonishing ascent does not come easily for her, Ms. Kelly tells her story in “Good Ol’ Freda,” a documentary directed by Ryan White, which will receive a theatrical and on-demand release on Friday. 


“I suppose it had to be done,” Ms. Kelly said in a recent phone interview. “I did want to do it eventually, for my grandson.” 


Here, Ms. Kelly, now in her late 60s, delves deeper into her personal collection of Beatles memorabilia, and talks about a few favorite items that further illuminate the tale of a young woman and the four superstars she knew simply as “the boys.” 

Courtesy of Freda Kelly

A Magical Mystery Dress

“Paul had this idea that ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ [the television film] would take two weeks to make. Being a girl, I decided to pack two weeks’ clothes: an outfit for every day, and I wore my worst outfit on the first day, just for travel. The next day I came down in a Mary Quant outfit. And one of the team said: ‘You didn’t have that frock on yesterday.

 This is supposed to be a day trip. Can you go back and put that frock on?’ So I had to wear my worst frock in ‘Magical Mystery Tour.’ It was so mad, the first week, I’d just had enough. I thought, I can’t cope with this for two weeks. There were plans, but things got changed every night. You would think you were doing one thing, and then you’d get up the next morning, and they’d say, ‘Oh, no, we’re going to do this instead.’ Or you’d be hanging around a field all day long.” 

                                                                            

Courtesy of Freda Kelly
A Big Day In Her Life

“When you get married, it’s your day, isn’t it? And the press got wind that I was getting married. They thought: ‘Oh, the Beatles are going to come. Have you invited the Beatles?’ And to be polite, I said, ‘Oh, yes, yes, I’ve invited them.’ Inwardly, I was thinking, ‘Hopefully they won’t come.’ And lucky enough, they were in India at the time. But they all sent telegrams. 


“Then Paul got married [to Linda Eastman]. I had girls ringing me up, telling me they were going to kill themselves. It was horrendous. You just had to calm them down. They were just hysterical Beatle fans that you had to deal with.” 

Courtesy of Freda Kelly
A Little Gift For the Fans

This keychain “was going to be the last present” for fan-club members when the Beatles broke up. “But when I saw it, I thought they could have come up with something better. I said, ‘Well, why don’t we give them all the fan-club records [made occasionally for its members]?’ 


“Peter Brown, who was one of the heads of Apple Corps, said to me, ‘We haven’t got the original tapes of those records.’ So they asked me, would I send my records in the post to Apple? And I refused. They could get lost in the post, and I’d never see them again. I’m not that stupid.

“So I thought, I’ll come down to London and lend you them, and you can make a master tape, and I’ll pick them up personally.” 

Courtesy of Freda Kelly
A Christmas Present

“That was the first Christmas record, and it was only for people that were members of the Beatles’ fan club. They told me they’d mentioned me on the record. I was completely on edge, because I knew them, and I thought they’d probably say funny things and jokes. They might say something like, ‘Oh, God, we can’t stand Freda,’ and the fans might not get the joke. 


“But they say, ‘Good ol’ Freda,’ and I was so relieved it was a good message. It’s nice to be known that they mentioned me on a record. Even if it was a fan club record.”
Courtesy of Freda Kelly
‘Just Thrown My Way’

This envelope is “just one of many: with just their name on it, it would get to the fan club. On that envelope it’s got Liverpool crossed out, and England left, because they probably thought, well, George might be in London, or he might be here.

 They were just hoping against hope it would get to him. But it got to me. So it was answered.

“We have a paper in Liverpool called The Liverpool Echo, and there was a George Harrison who used to work there. So you never know. It could have ended up with him instead. The postman guessed right. If it had anything to do with the Beatles, it was just thrown my way.” 

Courtesy of Freda Kelly
‘Don’t Worry About It, Fre’

“Juke Box Jury” “was a live television program, shown in our biggest theater in Liverpool. They would play a record, and you [the jurors, including her] had to decide whether it was going to be a hit or a miss. I didn’t really want to be on the stage. To calm me down, John said: ‘Don’t worry about it, Fre. The theater’s going to be in darkness. You’ll only see the first row.’ 


“But I had to be pushed onstage because when my name came up, I froze. The whole theater was lit up, and I was as red as a tomato. I was looking at John, more or less with my eyes saying, ‘I’m going to get you for this.' ” 


With many thanks to The NY Times. All Picture credits Freda Kelly.


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Freda Kelly Recalls Her Days of Working With the Beatles - "Good Ol' Freda"





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